Life in the Methodist Minefield

Terry Mattingly

The Rev. Julian Rush watched the headlines as 13 United Methodist pastors in the Pacific
Northwest judged the fate of one of their colleagues.

Few, if any, facts were in dispute. The Rev. Karen Dammann was living openly in a lesbian
relationship and leveled with her superiors. And everyone knew, after a generation of bitter
strife, that their Book of Discipline banned "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from ministry,
because gay sex is "incompatible with Christian teachings."

Rush wasn't surprised by the trial and he wasn't surprised by the verdict -- not guilty.

After all, he survived a similar ecclesiastical minefield two decades ago in Colorado.